Have the “Flood Talk” With Your Clients Before Hurricane Season

Top forecasters from Colorado State University predict a quiet 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, suggesting that nine tropical storms will form, but only three will become hurricanes...

May 28, 2014

Top forecasters from Colorado State University predict a quiet 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, suggesting that nine tropical storms will form, but only three will become hurricanes. The forecast was released by meteorologists Philip Klotzbach and William Gray of Colorado State University's Tropical Meteorology Project. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

Klotzbach said a predicted El Niño is one factor that led to their quiet forecast. El Niño, a climate pattern defined by warmer-than-normal water in the tropical Pacific Ocean, tends to suppress Atlantic hurricanes. If the 2014 season falls short of normal, it would only be the fourth below-normal season in 20 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) reminds agents that now is the time to have the “flood talk” with your clients, to ensure that they are financially covered with flood insurance. Visit www.Agents.FloodSmart.gov today to find valuable tools and resources to help you effectively communicate flood risk when having that all-important flood talk with your clients and prospects.